Holy Fire threatens Riverside County

A smoke plume from the Holy Fire can be seen throughout Southwest Riverside County and the surrounding areas.

ORANGE COUNTY – A brush fire that erupted in the Cleveland National Forest in the Holy Jim Canyon area of Orange County has grown to 75-100 acres and is spreading rapidly, sending up a large plume of smoke visible throughout the area. The blaze is northwest of Lake Elsinore.

Orange County Fire Authority officials say the Holy Fire" is moving toward Riverside County. U.S. Forest Service crews are also on the scene.

The Vegetation is "well-established" in current vegetation, according to the Cleveland National Forest Twitter page.

Resources are ordered and in route, the tweet reported.

There were unconfirmed early reports of one structure being consumed by the flames, but Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito told ABC7 that no structures were immediately being threatened.

Precautionary evacuation orders were issued for the Holy Jim community, home to dozens of cabins. No evacuation center was immediately established. Trabuco Canyon is also under an evacuation order, according to social media postings.

No injuries were reported as of about 90 minutes into the firefight.

Nearly a dozen water-dropping aircraft were being used to help control the blaze, with the U.S. Forest Service taking the lead in coordinating efforts to douse the blaze.

Bommarito told ABC7 the fire is burning in "medium to heavy brush that hasn't been burned for almost 40 years.'"

He estimated the area had not burned since about 1980.

Trabuco and Holy Jim canyons are under a mandatory evacuation.

City News Service contributed to this story.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available.